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One of the most persistent of the myths that Americans tell themselves about race is that the line between black and white is a matter of genetics rather than choice. Law professor and historian Daniel Sharfstein, with his book The Invisible Line, delved into the dramatic stories of three black families who responded to times of great racial upheaval by seizing opportunities to reinvent themselves as white. Sharfstein found an antebellum Southern family that – after covertly crossing the line from black to white – became wealthy sugar planters, slaveholders, and ardent Confederates.

Angels and Ages

Students in the American Studies course “Four American Lives: Lincoln, Whitman, Douglas, Homer” took a road trip to Washington, D.C. - and to the Civil War era. They visited Lincoln’s Cottage, the Patent Office Building, Ford’s Theatre, and the Peterson House, studying the final hours of Lincoln’s life and the beginning of his legacy. Lunch was at the historic Surratt Boardinghouse on H Street, where conspirators plotted the assassination, now home to an Asian restaurant called Wok & Roll. (Wontons were consumed on this visit, but no plots were hatched.) Jimmy Bigwood ‘12 documented the journey with text and photos - and 1860s-style special effects.